Time to head south, down to a place where I lived for about a year in the mid-1980s.
A Tweet by Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper caught my eye yesterday. It directed me to a blog post by Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist/blogger Jay Bookman, On state DNR board, no future for a 'green conservative'.
Bookman told the story of Warren Budd, a member of the state DNR Board:
Warren Budd, the vice chairman of the state Board of Natural Resources, calls himself a “green conservative” and claims there are a lot of people like him.
A lifelong active Republican, the insurance agent from Newnan is also an avid outdoorsman. “I care about conservation, and I care about this state,” he said in an interview last week. “I represent the average guy who likes to fish and hunt. This is a beautiful state, and I like to think that there will be something of it left for our grandchildren to enjoy.”
However, even though he was in line to become chair of the 18-member DNR board next year, Budd has been informed that he will not be reappointed when his seven-year term ends on Jan. 1. According to Budd, a “green conservative” point of view is no longer welcome by Gov. Nathan Deal, who wants no dissent from a pro-development agenda that favors special interests.[emboldening mine]
“”They are very into message-control,” Budd said. “They don’t want board members to act like a board.”
So what does the DNR Board do? From the DNR WWW site:
The Board of Natural Resources consists of 18 citizens appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Georgia Senate. The Board is responsible for setting rules and regulations ranging from air and water quality to hunting seasons and provides input into issues such as the agency’s budget recommendations and legislative initiatives. The Board meets 10 times a year, usually the fourth Tuesday (Committee Day) and Wednesday (Board Day) of each month at the offices of the Department of Natural Resources located at 2 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, SE, Suite 1252 East Tower, Atlanta, Georgia 30334.
So what led to Budd's predicament? Bookman continues:
Budd acknowledges that as a DNR board member, he pushed the state Environmental Protection Division to move more aggressively in dealing with a major fishkill on the Ogeechee River in May. Tens of thousands of fish were killed along an 80-mile stretch of river, and an investigation traced the cause back to King America Finishing, a textile plant that had been dumping flame-retardant chemicals into the river for as long as five years, undetected and without a permit.
In the end, the company agreed to spend $1 million on environmental projects in the Ogeechee watershed, a small price to pay considering the nature of its violation and the fact it could have been fined more than $90 million. The settlement was strongly criticized by environmentalists, outdoorsmen and civic leaders in the Ogeechee watershed as too lenient.
So what's my point here? What struck me about this story was Gov. Deal's pro-development stance and a self-described 'green conservative' who is seen as not being team player. Gov. Deal is within his rights not to reappoint Budd. And there is nothing wrong with being in favor of development, but let's not forget what led to the Atlanta metropolitan area's horrible water problems: years and years of unbridled growth with little or no coordinated planning among the plethora of municipalities and counties that comprise the metro area, and a state that turned a blind eye to this morass in its effort to promote growth in the area that comprises 55% of its population and is Georgia's economic engine.
And let's not forget the ACF-ACT kerfuffle. As The Economist asked, "Are Georgia, Alabama and Florida fighting over water or over growth?" Duhhh....
A conservative with Warren Budd's viewpoint should be welcomed on the DNR Board. His perspective would provide some balance and environmental sensibility - things that Atlanta and Georgia could have used during the go-go-growth era.
“...who are excited team players ready to carry out his agenda for our state.” - Brian Robinson, spokesman for Gov. Nathan Deal (R-GA), explaining what kind of DNR Board members the Governor wants to appoint
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